OPTIMISTIC: "If we can be strong now, good things are going to continue to be possible," says Farm Fresh's Fulmer.

Five years ago, when Farm Fresh Rhode Island (FFRI) launched its mission of promoting Ocean State-produced food, co-founder Noah Fulmer discovered a curious disconnection in the local food chain. On one hand, a native potato grower described being unable to sell his produce in Rhode Island — and on the other, a local independent grocer was stocking spuds from Idaho. The disparity, Fulmer recalls, left him thinking, "There's something wrong with this."

In many respects, it wasn't all that surprising. Even with the rise of food as an entertainment source in recent decades, most Americans, due largely to the emergence of mega-retailers and corporate agriculture, have long since become disconnected from the sources of what they eat every day.

Yet in the short time period since Farm Fresh RI (farmfreshri.org) took root as a Providence-based nonprofit in 2004, it has helped spearhead significant growth in Rhode Island's local food movement.

In the case of the potato growers, their products are now sold through a cooperative as Narragansett Premium Rhode Island Potatoes, a brand generating heightened attention and a measure of native pride.

Even more tangible, though, is the success of Farm Fresh's Wintertime Farmers' Market, which takes place every Saturday from 11 am to 2 pm through April at Hope Artiste Village, 1005 Main Street, Pawtucket, not far from the Providence line. More than 1000 people have turned out each week since the market debuted in December, drawn by the availability, to name a few examples, of locally produced meat, seafood, produce (turnips, potatoes, apples), dairy (eggs, cheese, ice cream), drinks (North Providence-made Yacht Club soda and seltzers), and more.

Some of the visitors come from as far as Boston, and the number of vendors and customers has multiplied several times over since Farm Fresh's first winter market was staged a year earlier at AS220 in Providence.

"As much as the food, it's a weekly check-in," in which shoppers get a chance to chat with 10 or so friends and acquaintances they might not otherwise see, says Fulmer, the 25-year-old executive director of Farm Fresh RI. And in contrast to what he perceives as an excess of glum expressions in other local settings, he notes, "Everyone smiles."

Good vibes and community-building aside, the heightened demand signified by the winter market is leading local growers and producers to increase their output, marking a bright spot for these small businesses during these bleak economic times. In fact, says Fulmer, agriculture is one of the few Rhode Island industries currently showing growth.

An array of local choicesThe growing local movement can be seen in an increasingly broad array of food-related operations in the Ocean State, from Besto Pesto and New Harvest Coffee in Pawtucket and Olneyville-based cheese-makers Providence Specialty Products and Narragansett Creamery, to Rhody Fresh Milk, Matunuck Oyster Farm, and Aquidneck Farms, a relatively new Portsmouth operation that is due to begin supplying its grass-fed beef to Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design.

Farm Fresh, meanwhile, is continuing its efforts to build capacity for the local food movement, launching a combined statewide delivery operation to ease links between growers and Rhode Island restaurants. It's also planning an industrial kitchen available for rent by small businesses without the means to open their own shop.

RHODY'S LOCAL FOOD MOVEMENT FINDS ITS GROOVE | February 23, 2009 Five years ago, when Farm Fresh Rhode Island (FFRI) launched its mission of promoting Ocean State-produced food, co-founder Noah Fulmer discovered a curious disconnection in the local food chain.

TICKET TO RIDE | February 11, 2009 In April 1999, two weeks after I started on the job at the Providence Phoenix , the FBI raided City Hall, formally unveiling the federal investigation that would land Vincent A. "Buddy" Cianci Jr., Rhode Island's rascal king, behind bars.

ADVOCATES RENEW PUSH FOR PUBLICLY-FINANCED RI ELECTIONS | February 04, 2009 During a news conference Tuesday afternoon in the State House rotunda, proponents of significantly expanding publicly financed elections in Rhode Island — a concept they call "Fair Elections" — cited a litany of reasons for why it would be good for the Ocean State and its citizens.

THE UPSIDE OF HOPE IN RHODE ISLAND | January 29, 2009 Everywhere one turns these days, there's seemingly more bad news about Rhode Island: the unemployment rate, one of the highest in the nation, tops 10 percent — and the state's running out of unemployment assistance.